Method of making combined closely woven and fitch work fabric



June 23, 1931. I LARSELN 1,810,969

METHOD OF MAKING COMBINED CLOSELY WOVEN AND FITCH WORK FABRIC Filed Dec.28, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet l June 23, 1931. y 1,810,969

METHOD OF MAKING COMBINED CLOSELY WOVEN AND FITCH WORK FABRIC Filed Dec.28, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v x N a Imfenfifi *4 [@MS [0219222 MWLQW June23, 1931. LARSEN 1,810,969

METHOD OF MAKING COMBI NED CLOSELY WOVEN AND FITCH WORK FABRIC Imfen'fi?[ad's [arsiz June 23, 1931. LARSEN 1,810,969 I METHOD OF MAKING COMBINEDCLOSELY WOVEN AND FITCH WORK FABRIC Filed Dec. 28, 1928 4 Sheets$heet 4Imfanfifi I leafs Jansen Patented June 23, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENTGFFECE LEWIS LARSEN, OF MENOMINEE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR- TOHEEZWOOD-WAKECFIELD COMPANY, OF BOCTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION GEMASSACHUSETTS METHOD CF MAKING COMBINED CLOSELY WOVEN AND FITCH W'ORKFABRIC Application filedDecember 28, 1928. Serial No. 323,394.

and fitch work fabric and it consists of the,

matters hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in theappended claims.

Such a fabric is extensively employed in the furniture industry as thecovering or body of the framesv of many difierent articles such aschairs and the like and has been woven directly upon the frames of saidarticles. The weaving of such fabric in this manner is slow and'exactingand can only be performed by artisans long experienced with thecharacteristics of the material employed.

The fabric with which the present invention is concerned comprises apart of closely woven over and under stake and strand fabric and anotherpart of more open character known as fitch work so that the forming or29 building up of such a fabric upon an article frame calls for anartisan.

The fabric herein includes a plurality of laterally spaced memberscalled stakes which may be either of reed, reed fibre or fibre having awire core and which in workable lengths have suflicient rigidity to beself supporting but may be flexed or bent when necessary to positionthem in the relation desired in the finished fabric. 7

Upon the stakes certain members called filler and fitching strands arewoven and twisted to hold the stakes in the desired arrangement. Thefiller and fitching strands may be of a diameter greater or less thanthat of the stakes and are of such character that they may be readilylaid in and twisted about the stakes.

In the closely woven part of the fabric, the stakes are substantiallyparallel and the filler strands are laid in, over one stake and underthe other, with the several courses of strands disposed in closerelation. Instead of each course comprising a single or individualstrand, a double or twin strand may N be employed. In the more openwoven part of the fabric, the stakes may be disposed in severaldifferent ways, that is in some portions they may be parallel and inothers they may be arranged to cross each other. Again all of thestakesin the more open part of the fabric may be arranged to cross Qdrecross each other to provide an open diamond effect, the fitchingstrands'being twisted in along desired lines and acting to hold thestakes in the desired relation.

When the stakes and strands are of fibre reed. which is composedoftwisted paper, the paper while in strip form may be conveniently dyedthe desired color and this eliminates the necessity of painting orcolormg the finished fabric andat the same time provides for a novelvariety of pleasing color effects. The operation of manipulating andholdmg the stakes with one hand and laying in the strands with the otherand in the mean-' whlle, shaping the fabric to the frame as the fabricprogresses, is indeed difficult and requires skilled artisans. It is aslow and laborious operation at the best so that only workmen with longexperience can be employed for this kind of work and even then the timerequired to produce a relatively small article is considerable.Therefore, articles of furniture having this kind of frame covering orfabric are quite expensive.

Thegeneral object of the present invention is to provide a novel methodof producing a fabric of this kind, ready for applica tion to an articleframe whereby the finished article may be made in less time and at alower cost.

Another object of the invention is to-provide a method which may becarriedout by unskilled workers with an assurance of uniformity in thefabric produced.

Still another object of the invention is to provide such a method as ispractical for use in factory systems of making the fabric apart from butto conform to the frame and thereafter applying the fabric to .such aframe to produce the finished article.

The invention consists generally in the steps and acts as well as in thesequences in which they are carried out, whereby the above mentionedobjects as well as others as will hereinafter appear, are obtainable andmy invention will be more readily understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings illustrative thereof and wherein Fig. 1 is a planview of a portion of the fabric which may or may not have been woven ona loom and with portions of the strakes projecting beyond opposite edgesthereof, ready for subsequent steps of the improved method to be carriedout thereon.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one end of the fabric after it has been trimmedto the desired angularity and has been bound to prevent its ravelling.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the trimmed and bound fabric portion of Figs. 1and 2 after the first line of fitching has been laid in place along oneedge thereof.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale through one boundmargin of the fabric, the plane of the section being taken on the line4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a plan'view showing the fabric thus far formed, in positionupon one section of a templet and distorted in an edgewise plane andwith portions of the projecting stakes at one edge of the fabric crossedin accordance with suitable sets of guiding means thereon and with asecond line of strands fitched in place along a predetermined line.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 after another templet section hasbeen brought into operative position with the first and the stakes havebeen arranged in accordance with other guiding means on the secondsection and a third line of strands'has been fitched in place along apredetermined line. Fig. 7 is a top plan View of a portion of thefinished fabric when removed from the templet and ready for applicationto the associated frame for which it is intended.

Fig. Sis a perspective sectional view showing a part of the templet whenthe two sections thereof are in operative relation.

In carrying out the improved method I first. make up a piece of stakeand strand fabric of a predetermined size and comprising a plurality oflaterally spaced, substantially parallel stakes 1-1 of suitable length,upon which are woven the desired number. of closely adjacent strands2-2, each in alternation over one stake and under the next to provide aband or area 3 of closely woven fabric of proper length and width. Theweaving of so much of the fabric may be done either by hand or by meansof a suitable machine or loom but in either case the stakes are of alength greater than the width of said band or area so as to extendbeyond each longitudinal edge thereof to leave top and bottom stakeextensions 4 and 5, the terms top and bottom being relatively only andemployed for the sake of convenience in designating the positions saidextensions occupy in the making up of the fabric as a whole.

In the drawings I have shown the stake extensions 4 as duplex or doublein form instead of single as are the stake extensions 5 although thisduplex arrangement could be provided for both sets of stake extensionsif so desired. To provide such a duplex arrangement for the stakeextensions I simply add another stake member 4: of shorter length foreach of such extensions and which stakemember is bound or anchored inplace along side of its associated extension by those strands 2-9 in thetop portion of the band or area 3.

After such a fabric bandhas been thus formed its ends are trimmed off atthe desired converging angles which trimmed ends are then bound with ametallic binder strip 6 best shown in Fig. 2 to there prevent theravelling of the fabric. While the fabric band is in this condition, Iweave or lay in the first line of fitching 7 upon the duplex stakeextensions Said line of fitching comprises two strand members 7 and 7respectively and the strand member 7 at the front of one stake istwisted overthe strand member 7 to the rear of saidstake which is thenbrought to the front of the next stake and so on, the strand member atthe front of the stake always being twisted over and about the strandmember at the rear of the stake so that said strand members cross eachother between the stakes.

This manner of fitching in the strand members requires less handmovements upon the part of the fitcher and may be carried out morerapidly than was heretofore possible, when the strand member to thefront of one stake was twisted under the strand member to the rear ofsaid stake member. The fitched strand is then worked'down on the stakesinto engagement with the first course of filler strands 2 on the fabricband 3 and the ends of said fitching strands are then twisted togetheras shown to prevent their ravelling.

The necessary steps to complete the fabric are carried out in connectionwith a templet upon which the thus far formed fabric is placed, Such atemplet which is best shown in Fig. 6 comprises a main section 8 and asecondary section, 9 adapted to be brought into operative position withrespect to the main section When so desired, the templet of course beingplaced or supported upon a suitable bench or the like (not shown) whenin actual use by the workman. V

The main templet section 8 is of an area greater than that of theclosely woven fabric band 3 and is curved along its top edge 10 inaccordance with a predetermined line desired to be given to the secondline of fitching in the fabric. .Along said top edge 10 of the mainsection of the'templet is provided a row of longitudinally spaced guidepins 11 and along the bottom edge of the main section is provided aplurality of stop pins 12 disposed on an are or curved substantiallyconcentric. or parallel with the row of guide pin 11.

To apply the partly completed fabric to the main templet section, thelonger edge 13 of the fabric which is substantially straight, is engagedagainst the endmost stop pins 12 on said templet section and the midportion of said partly completed fabric is worked or distorted'in theplane of weave down toward the intermediate pins 12 so that the fabricis curved in accordance with said stop pins 12 and top edge 10 as bestshown in Fig. 5. Each alternate duplex stake extension H is then flexedto the right to engage againstthe rightv hand side of the proper pin 11and then each intermediate duplex stake extension 4 l is flexed to theleft to engage against the left hand side of the proper pin 11 so thatthe stakes cross each other to provide an area 14 of open diamond weaveor mesh as best shown in Fig. 5. I then manipulate another pair ofstrands upon the stake ends to form a line offitching15 following thecontour of the edge 10 of the main templet section.

The main templet section and the secondary templet section arepreferably made of wood and the secondary section which is much narrowerthan the main section has top and bottom edges curved to conform to thetop edge of the main section. The secondary section is operativelyconnected to the main section by a pair of hinges 16 located on theunder side of the templct near. the middle thereof. On the underside ofeach end of the main section near its top curved edge is provided apivoted latch plate 17. hen the secondary section is swung about thehinges 16 into the plane of the main section, the latch plates 17 areturned so that one end thereof projects under the secondary section andholds the same in place.

The secondary templet is provided with a row of longitudinally spacedguide pins 18 as best shown in 6 and those parts of the duplex stakeextensions 4-4 beyond the line of fitching 15 are engaged behind theproper pins 18 to provide another area 19 of open diamond weave or meshupon the secondary section, Another pair of strands is fitched in placeupon those portions of said duplex stake extensions beyond the top edgeof the secondary section to provide a line of fitching 20 conforming tosaid edge and said duplex stake extensions are trimmed off parallel withbut spaced from said edge to provide ends 21 adapted to be secured tothe corresponding portion of an article frame in any convenient manner.

The thus far formed fabric is removed from the templet and the stakeextensions 5 along the other longitudinal edge of the .fabric are thenturned down and intertwined with each other to form a border 22 for the.fabric which is now ready for attachment to the article frame for whichit was originally intended.

It is apparent that as the duplex stake portions are disposed in thedesired relation and the fitching strands are then applied, they aretied or connected together in'said relation and the fitch work portionof the fabric acts to hold the closely woven portion of the fabric inthe position into which it has been distorted. s

From the above, it is apparent that a pre formed fabric is providedwhich includes a closely woven part and a more open woven and fitchedpart, the shape or outline of which is ofcourse dependent upon the shapenecessary to fit the associated frame. Thus under this method byproviding the necessary templet, combined close woven and fitched fabricfor a great variety of articles may be produced with speed anduniformity by unskilled workers at a relatively low cost.

In qualifying the fabric or its elements as reed in the specificationand claims, I, of course, mean such elements as cooperate in the mannerabove described and have the characteristics of stakes and strands suchas are now employed in the reed industry and also to include suchmaterials as natural reed and paper reed.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings, I have omitted the central portionsof the area- 3 of closely woven stake and strandfabric,

solel for the our 3056 of simolicit in illusl l y:

trating the inventionand it is to be understood that such omittedportions do not constitute openings in said area of such fabric.

Inasmuch as the disclosure herein will readily suggest to others skilledin the art. to which this invention appertains, various methods andtemplets whereby the substantial objects of the invention can beattained, I do not wish to be limited to the specific stated manner ofprocedure nor to the pie cise steps, acts or sequences thereof exceptonly as may be necessary by limitations in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention 2- 1. The method of making a fabric of the kinddescribed which consists in providing a piece of substantially closewoven stake and strand fabric material having stake portions projectingbeyond one edge thereof, then placing said material upon a templethaving stake guiding means thereon, deflecting the projecting stakeportions substan tially in the plane of the material and engaging themwith the desired guiding means and then fitching in strands upon saiddeflected projecting stake portions along the desired line thereon toform a combined close woven stake and strand and fitched fabric. v

2. The method of making a fabric of the deflectin the ro'ect-in stakesortions sub stantially in the plane of the material and engaging saiddeflected stake portions with said stake guiding means andthen fitchingin strands upon said deflected vprojecting stake portions along thedesired line.

3. The method of making a fabric of the kind described which consists inproviding a piece of substantially close woven stake and strand fabricmaterial having a set of stake portions projecting beyond opposite edgesthereof, in fitching inv strands upon one set of stakes along one ofsaid edges, in providing a templet having stake guiding means and fabriccurvature defining means,

' placing said material upon said templet and distorting it in the planeof the weave to conform the other edge of the material to the curvaturedefining means deflecting the first mentioned set of stake portions insubstantially the plane of the material and engaging them with saidstake guiding means in-fitching in strands upon said'first men tionedset of deflected projecting stake portions beyond said stake guidingmeans and then turning down the other set of projecting stake portionsto form a border therefor.

4-. The method of making a fabric of the kind described which consistsin providing a piece of substantially close Woven stake and strandfabric material having stake portions projecting beyond one edgethereof, in providing a templet comprising a main section and a secondsection adapted to be operatively positionedwith respect to the mainsection and each having stake guiding means thereon, positioning thematerial upon the main section, deflecting the projecting stake portionssubstantially in the plane of the material and engaging them with thegu1d ing means on the main section, fitching in.

strands upon those stake portions beyond the main section, bringing thesecond section into operative relation with respect to the main section,further deflecting said projecting stake portions and engaging them withthe guiding means on the second sect on and then fitching in strandsupon said deflected stake portions beyond the guiding means on saidsecond section.

5. The method of making a fabric of the kind described which consists inproviding a piece of substantially close woven stake and strand fabricmaterial having stake portions projecting beyond one edge thereof, in'prostrands upon those stake portions beyond the main section, bringingthe second section into operative position with respect to the mainsection, further deflecting said projecting stake portions and engagingthem with the guiding means on the second section and then fitching instrands uponsaid stake portions beyond the guiding means on said secondsection.

6. The method of making; a fabric of the kind described which consistsin providing a piece ofsubstantially close woven stake and strand fabricmaterial having a set of stake portions projecting beyond opposite edgesthereof, fitching in strands upon one set of stakes alon one of saidedges, in providing a templet comprising a main section and a secondsection adapted to be operatively positioned with respect to the mainsection, each of which have stake guiding means therein, the mainsection also having fabric curvature guiding means, positioning thematerial upon the main section and distorting the material out of theplane of weave until one of said edges engages with and conforms to saidfabric curvature guiding means, deflecting the stake portions projectingfrom the opposite edge in substantially the plane of the material andengaging them with the stake guiding means on the main section, layingin fitching strands upon said" stake portions beyond said guiding means,bringing thesecond section into operative position with respect to themain section, further deflecting said stake portions and engagingthemwith the guiding means on the second section, laying in another lineof fitching strands upon said stake portions, beyond said secondsection, removing the fit'ched fabric material from the templet andturning down the other set of stakes to form a border therefor.

7. The method of making a fabric of the kind described which consists inproviding a piece of closely woven stake and strand fabric material withthe stakes'extending substantially at a right angle to the fillerstrands and with the stakes projecting be yond one edge of said fabricmaterial, distorting the fabric in the plane of weave, disposing theprojecting stake portions in the desired relation and fitching instrands upon said projecting stake portions, and thereby holding thefabric in its distorted condition.

8. A fabric of the kind described compris-. ing a body portion ofclosely woven stake and strand fabric material distorted from itsinitially formed condition and an open fitch Work portion extendingtherefrom and serving to hold the closely Woven body portion in itsdistorted condition.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 20th day ofDecember, 1928.

LEWIS LARSEN.

